19 Healthy Snacks to Satisfy Any Craving

BySamantha Bonar | February 08, 2017

A snack attack can sabotage our best intentions for good health. But as they say, the best defense is a good offense.

That’s why we’ve put together this list of healthy yet delicious snack items to stop just about any craving in any situation. The key is to have some on hand, whether stashed in your desk drawer, your bag, your lunchbox or in the kitchen cupboard.

01

Great Healthy Snack for the Athlete

Made for marathoners, Clif Bloks energy chews contain only 33 calories per cube and about as much caffeine as a cup of green tea, making it easy to customize and track caloric and electrolyte intake during long outings and races. Great for post-workouts, too. This eight-variety pack includes one of each fruit flavor, which range from margarita to black cherry.

02

Best Treat for Vegan Snackers

It can sometimes be hard for vegans to get enough protein. Krispeas’ vegan and gluten-free spicy green split pea baked falafel chips combine the spicy flavors of a classic Mediterranean favorite with nutritious green split peas, flax seeds and 1 gram of protein per chip. Each chip also contains a gram of fiber, which helps satisfy hunger. There are no added artificial colors or flavors and krispeas are free of trans fat and cholesterol.

03

Great Gluten-Free Snack

Elan’s low-sugar granola shots are made of 40% almonds, pecans, walnuts and coconut— ingredients packed with fiber, protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals. Other ingredients include rolled whole oats and pumpkin and sunflower seeds. A touch of maple syrup adds sweetness for breakfast to go, or mix a “shot” with yogurt, milk, kefir or a smoothie.

Best Low-Cal Snack When You’re Craving Fries

Gourmet Basics Smart Fries 4-Flavor Variety Pack comes in Classic Sea Salt, Original KC BBQ, Sweet Jalapeno and Aged White Cheddar. Neither fried nor baked, Smart Fries cook in mid-air (what?!) as they pass through a special engineered hot air popping oven. This process locks in the flavors and makes this air-popped snack light and crunchy. Each bag contains only 110 calories and 1.5 grams of fat with no trans and no saturated fat.

06

A Great Healthy Snack for Kids

MySuperCookies Organic Whole Grain Cookies are made with 100% whole grains, coconut oil and chia seeds and are dairy-, nut-, egg- and soy-free—perfect for kids with food allergies. Shaped like superheroes, the cookies come in blueberry vanilla, chocolate, and honey and pack superfoods like quinoa, baobab and acerola. Each has just 7 grams of sugar, which is less than that in a juice box. They’re perfect for lunch boxes, road trips, day trips, camping, etc. And, according to the Amazon reviews, kids actually like ’em.

Brookside Fruit and Nut Snack Bars are the perfect combination of fruit and chocolate, with the added benefits of being low in sodium and cholesterol free. Whole-grain rolled oats, roasted almonds and toasted pumpkin seeds provide crunch while the dried fruit and dark chocolate add the sweetness you crave. Each bar has 180 calories, 3 grams of fiber and just 9 grams of fat and is a good source of vitamins A, C and E. Three flavors to choose from: Cranberry with Blackberry, Cherry with Pomegranate and Blueberry with Acai Flavor.

A Great Healthy Paleo Snack

Bubba’s Original Snack Mix will remind you of a fresh batch of your mom’s homemade Chex mix, without any high-glycemic grains. It’s gluten-free, grain-free, vegan and very Paleo-friendly with such ingredients as non-GMO banana chips, pecans and cashews flavored with sea salt, paprika, turmeric, onion and garlic. Pro tip: Try them on a salad in place of croutons.

Pure Organic’s Strawberry Banana Fruit Sandwiches are triple-layer treats made with a tasty puree of real strawberries and bananas. Each bar contains a 3/4 serving of fruit and veggies combined and are Certified Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, kosher and made in a peanut-free facility. Besides strawberry and banana juice and puree, the bars include carrot and cabbage juice and apple puree. They are also available in passionfruit pineapple flavor.

11

A Great Healthy Sugar-Free Snack

Whether you’re diabetic or just watching your sugar intake, Kozy Shack’s Simply Well Rice Pudding with no sugar added is a great snack when you still crave dessert. Each pudding contains just reduced-fat milk, rice, eggs, salt, natural flavorings and sucralose—and only 90 calories.

12

Great Healthy Snack for a Quick Energy Boost

Powered by guarana and maca, Better Than Coffee bars contain just 100 calories, 5 grams of protein and 100 milligrams of natural caffeine. The bittersweet bars are flavored with 70% organic dark chocolate, coconut flakes and French roast coffee. A proprietary formula (ingredients include pea protein, brown rice flour and chicory root fiber) provides sustained energy over several hours so there’s no sugar crash. (If you are sensitive to caffeine, start with half a bar.)

13

Great Healthy Snack for the Meat Lover

Bricktown’s City Slicker Beef Jerky in Sweet BBQ is soft and tender for people who like their jerky moist and easy to chew (i.e., city slickers). Made with whole muscle beef and seasoned to perfection, this is gourmet-quality jerky that starts with premium cuts of beef that are marinated for hours. Bricktown jerky is high in protein, low fat and low in carbs.

Bricktown’s City Slicker Beef Jerky in Sweet BBQ

14

Best Healthy Snack If You’re Nuts About Nuts

Trader Joe’s Raw Trek Mix is a 1-lb bag of raisins, cashews, walnuts, almonds and filberts. With no added salt or oils, it’s low sodium, gluten-free and kosher and perfect for a hike or just when you need some quick energy.

STRONG & KIND Protein Bars in Hickory Smoked flavor are each packed with 10 grams of protein, all 9 essential amino acids and a bold savory flavor with whole almonds, seeds and pea protein that is soy- and whey-free as well as low sodium.

There’s no shame if you never grew out of your love for gummies. Little Duck Organics Tiny Gummies in Pomegranate, Blueberry and Acai are made from 100% fruit purees from superfruits with no added sugar, as well as super probiotics. Each serving contains 1 billion cultures to help support immunity as well as antioxidants, iron and vitamin C. And most importantly, they are duck-shaped.

17

A Great Crunchy and Healthy Snack

When you long for a crunch instead of a chew, reach for Creative Snacks Super Veggie Chips With White Cheddar and Broccoli. This low-cal, gluten-free vegetable chip is baked not fried, and made with real dehydrated vegetables. They contain about half the calories of potato chips.

18

A Great Healthy Snack Shake

When you’re craving a snack but you don’t even have time to masticate, grab a PowerLunch shake. The blend of healthy proteins (such as grass-fed whey) will jumpstart your metabolism and fuel your body for hours. PowerLunch has zero soy and gluten and comes in chocolate and vanilla flavors. Liquid not included!

19

A Great Healthy Meal-Replacement Snack

It’s not the Everlasting Gobstopper, but it’s close. DNX’s gourmet “performance nutrition bar” in Sweet Potato Pecan Beef bills itself as an entire meal in a bar. Made from grass-fed beef and organic superfoods, the nutrition bar is packed with 11 grams of protein and other critical body fuels. It’s perfect for busy moms and dads on the go, endurance hikers or entrepreneurs running from meeting to meeting. DNX bars also come in in Jamaican-style bison and dark chocolate cherry.